Chennai, June 27 (BPNS)
The Tamil Nadu police have commenced a crackdown on drug traffickers who were earlier on the radar for drug pedaling and who had served jail term. The state police chief, C. Sylendra Babu, has ordered a crackdown on the drug peddlers in the state, an official said. This is following several cases being reported in the state over drug trafficking and many students in colleges and even in schools turning peddlers and later drug addicts.
The Chennai police had destroyed 1300 kg of ganja worth Rs 2 crore which was seized as booty in 68 cases. The drugs were destroyed following an order of the Principal Special Court in presence of Chennai City police commissioner, Shankar Jiwal.
Police on a recent study have found out that more than 60 percent of road accidents are due to either drunken driving and in recent times drugs have also played a major role in road accidents.
The study also found that in most of the murders and rape and molestation cases, it was found that drugs was playing a major role.
A special team is constituted who will be taking up the responsibility for crackdown of the drug syndicate in the state. Police have also started investigating some international students who are in educational institutions in the state under the exchange programmes of the Government of India. This is following the arrest of a Ghana national in a case related to crackdown on synthetic drugs in Kerala.
Another major factor that has led to the police conducting a crackdown is the arrest of a former LTTE intelligence operative Satkunam alias Sabesan in October 2021 on charges of drug smuggling and raising funds for reviving the defunct Tamil terror movement.
In a related development, BJP Tamil Nadu unit president, K. Annamalai has said that Chennai has turned into the drug capital of Tamil Nadu and that the state police were lethargic in cracking down on the drug mafia of the state.
Police have also drawn flak from the opposition AIADMK also for not acting properly on the drug syndicate which has spread its tentacles across the state with Chennai as the focal point.
